Lamy vista from Pilot Metro

[red zeppelin]

So my first FP is the Pilot Metro which I use daily at work. I really like a lot of aspects of the pen, but the one thing I would change if I could is the nib. So I am looking at the Lamy vista as an addition. I like the demonstrator quality and have heard good things in general about the Lamy's.

Here's my question and hopefully some of you have had both pens and can answer: if the Metro is a medium nib and I want a bit finer without scratching paper, would the Lamy fine be the right choice or should I get the extra fine? Thanks in advance.

 

[Rockminer]

If it's just a nib you're after, you can buy a pilot 78g and swap the entire section feed and nib over to the metro. Or you can just swap the nib. The 78's come in fine, med, broad and double broad, and go for around $10 on the Bay.

I'm not familiar with the lamy's other than you can swap nibs with them as well.

 

[shaverjoe]

So my first FP is the Pilot Metro which I use daily at work. I really like a lot of aspects of the pen, but the one thing I would change if I could is the nib. So I am looking at the Lamy vista as an addition. I like the demonstrator quality and have heard good things in general about the Lamy's.

Here's my question and hopefully some of you have had both pens and can answer: if the Metro is a medium nib and I want a bit finer without scratching paper, would the Lamy fine be the right choice or should I get the extra fine? Thanks in advance.

I do not have a Pilot, but I have several Lamys. I find the EF nib to be too scratchy but I really enjoy the Lamy fine nibs. Switching nibs on a Lamy takes about 10 seconds so if you decide to go with the Vista, I would order it with a F nib and if you don't like it, you can easily swap it with a medium.

 

[BigWill]

If it's just a nib you're after, you can buy a pilot 78g and swap the entire section feed and nib over to the metro. Or you can just swap the nib. The 78's come in fine, med, broad and double broad, and go for around $10 on the Bay.

I'm not familiar with the lamy's other than you can swap nibs with them as well.

+1

I made this exact swap. I bought a 78G fine off the bay for $10 shipped from Hong Kong. Shipping took about a week. Simply unscrew the pen, and swap the medium Metro for the fine in the 78G. I haven't looked back.

My Monteverde Regatta with F nib is wider than my F nib in my Metro, so a "western" F nib is somewhere between a M nib and a F nib from Japan.

So for $10 and some patience, you can try both. Or let the enablers convince you to by the Lamy. Or, even better, BOTH!

 

[oc_in_fw]

I cannot comment on Japanese nibs, as I own none. My Lamy medium is right in line, size wise, with my Pelikan medium though. I believe Japanese nibs run narrower than Euros, someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[miatapaul]

I will say I have had a few pilot medium (78G) and have a Lamy X-fine. It is just a tiny bit finer than the medium, but I do find it to be very scratchy. I am not the only one I have heard say the Lamy x-fine is scratchy. The Asians do seem to have a way with very fine nibs and can make them quite smooth. If you can find a 78G (getting harder to find at good prices as I believe they have been discontinued) with fine, or a Pilot Crystal. I really like the nib on the Crystal, and it is a demonstrator as well but the body is made of some really cheap plastic. I think I paid $10 shipped for mine. I don't remember who I got it from, but they were in Philadelphia as I recall. It writes nice, but the blind cap snapped off, and the barrel cracked with no real abuse. I like the nib as it is fine and it is needle fine, not too scratchy and actually has a bit of flex, so you can get some personality out of it. So it would make a fine transplant into your Metro. The pilot nibs pull right out, about as easy to swap as the Lamy.

 

[cb91710]

I retrofitted all of my Lamy nibs to EF except for my highlighter.
I found the Fine to be a bit heavier than the standard office G2 rollers, and I like a fine line.

 

[red zeppelin]

So I took a leap today. I went to a local store that carries almost everything and they had the Lamy Vista in stock. I got it in Fine, knowing I could switch out for XF if need be. I will likely switch the nib on the pilot at some point as well.

I ended up getting the Vista, the converter and a bottle of Kon Peki, and the store was having an 'in store' pen show, so it was all 10% off! That's my first bottle of ink, I have been using samples up until now. So far, with only a few notes taken this afternoon at work, it seems good. At first I didn't think it was a noticeable difference from the Pilot M, but after using it a bit in a better notebook, I can feel the difference. I can't see a lot of difference, but I don't seem to get the feather as much on it.

One thing I noticed though, the pen seemed to bleed a lot after I filled it. Is that due to it being new, or is it the ink?

 

[cb91710]

I'd say the ink. I use nothing but Lamy inks, and I get a bit of nib creep, but it's not that noticeable and has never "blobbed" my writing.
That honor is reserved for the Ahab.

 

[red zeppelin]

nib creep seems better today, though not totally fixed. I bought a full bottle of Kon Peki, so the pen will have to figure out how to work with it!

After using it in my first meeting today, I have to say I am really happy with the pen and the F nib. I may eventually get an XF for it, but I am going to use it for a bit as is and see what its like. So far I like it a lot better than the Pilot M.

On a separate note, I really enjoyed going to the pen shop where I bought it. I like goulet a lot, but there is something to be said for holding the pen and getting to see all the classic styles in one place at one time. I can only imagine what a pen show must be like!

 

[SAPed]

I agree about going to the pen shop and actually writing with a few different pens, great to have that chance. I've also been watching my share of video's from the Goulet site and am really thankful for the effort he puts into it, very informative. Couldn't imagine being in a hobby like this prior to the internet days, the amount of information must have been much less. Congrats on the Vista.